Marketplace Morning Report®

Marketplace Morning Report for Friday, May 4, 2012

In the U.K., voters delivered big losses to the ruling Conservative party yesterday. This weekend, voters in both France and Greece will go to the polls and the expectation is that they'll be in a bit of an anti-austerity mood. Are 401(k)s really the right ticket to a happy retirement? The movie "The Avengers" opens in the U.S. today -- but it has already brought in more than $250 million around the world. And tomorrow is the 138th Kentucky Derby. Horse raising is a multi-billion dollar business, and a growing percentage of that money is being spent on cutting-edge veterinary care.

From this Episode

Fidelity said this week that our 401(k) account balances were up 8 percent on average in the first quarter of this year. But the major stock market indexes were up even more than that. So are 401(k)s really the right ticket to a happy retirement?

The government released its closely-watched employment report for April. While the unemployment rate ticked down to 8.1 percent, only 115,000 new jobs were added to payrolls for the month, well below forecasts.

If, as expected, socialist Francois Hollande is elected the next president of France this weekend, to what extent will budget realities crimp his ability to ease off the austerity that he believes is hurting the economy?

People are arriving in Omaha now for that "Woodstock of Capitalism," the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, billionaire Warren Buffett's conglomerate. The official materials recommend two steakhouses for visiting shareholders.

This weekend, voters in both France and Greece will go to the polls, and the expectation is that they'll be in a bit of an anti-austerity mood. One clue came yesterday in the U.K. where voters delivered big losses to the ruling Conservative party.

In the U.K., voters delivered big losses to the ruling Conservative party yesterday. This weekend, voters in both France and Greece will go to the polls and the expectation is that they'll be in a bit of an anti-austerity mood. Are 401(k)s really the right ticket to a happy retirement? The movie "The Avengers" opens in the U.S. today -- but it has already brought in more than $250 million around the world. And tomorrow is the 138th Kentucky Derby. Horse raising is a multi-billion dollar business, and a growing percentage of that money is being spent on cutting-edge veterinary care.